Surrey Welfare Rights Unit
Privacy Policy
At Surrey Welfare Rights Unit we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people’s lives.
This privacy policy explains how we use your information and what your rights are. We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection law and our confidentiality policy. The following pages tell you more about how we use your information in more detail.
Our network
Citizens Advice is a membership organisation made up of the national Citizens Advice charity and many local offices across England and Wales, including Surrey Welfare Rights Unit (SWRU). SWRU is an independent charity and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity.
All members of the Citizens Advice network are responsible for keeping your personal information safe and making sure data protection law is followed.
Members of the network also run some jointly designed services and use some of the same systems to process your personal data. In these instances we are joint data controllers for these activities.
Jointly controlled data
All offices in the Citizens Advice network use some joint systems to carry out our activities. These may include joint case management systems, telephony platforms and more.
Staff from a different local Citizens Advice can only access your personal information in a joint system if they have a good reason. For example when:
- you go to a different office to seek advice
- more than one office is working together in partnership
- they need to investigate a complaint or incident
We have rules and controls in place to stop people accessing or using your information when they shouldn’t.
Tell an adviser if you’re worried about your details being on a national system. We’ll work with you to take extra steps to protect your information – for example by recording your problem without using your name.
National Citizens Advice has a privacy notice available on their website that covers general advice and nationally managed systems, including our case management systems. This policy covers the processing we carry out in our office.
How we use your data for advice
This section covers how we use your data to provide you with advice.
For general advice and nationally funded advice programmes please see the national Citizens Advice privacy notice.
How we collect your information
We collect information by various methods including phone, email, letter, and in-person.
What information we collect
We will only ask for information that is relevant to the problem that you, or someone acting on your behalf, is seeking help with. Depending on what help you need, this might include:
- Personal information – for example about family, work, or financial circumstances. We need this for benefits advice.
- Your name and contact details – so we can keep in touch with you about your case
- Information regarding gender, nationality, ethnicity and health
If you don’t want to give us certain information, you don’t have to.
What we use your information for
The main reason we ask for your information is to help solve your problem. We only access your information for other reasons if we really need to – for example:
- For training and quality of advice purposes
- To investigate complaints
- To get feedback from you about our services
- To help us improve our services
Our confidentiality policy
At Citizens Advice we have a confidentiality policy which states that anything you tell us as part of advice will not be shared outside of the Citizens Advice network unless you provide your permission for us to do so.
There are some exceptions to this such as needing to share:
- to prevent an immediate risk of harm to an individual
- In select circumstances if it is in the best interests of the client
- where we are compelled to do so by law (e.g. a court order or meeting statutory disclosures)
- where there is an overriding public interest such as to prevent harm against someone or to investigate a crime
- to defend against a complaint or legal claim
- to protect our name and reputation for example to provide our side of a story reported in the press
Who we share your information with
With your permission, we might share your information with other organisations to help solve your problem or to monitor the quality of our services.
Organisations we share your data with must store and use your data in line with data protection law.
If you ask us to act on your behalf we might need to share some of your information with other organisations – we’ll always tell you when we do this. For example if we contact His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service about your benefit appeal we will need to give them personal details in order to discuss your case. In most cases these third parties will be the statutory organisation that is dealing with your case (DWP, HMRC or the local authority), the County Council or the organisation that referred you to us.
If we refer you to another organisation for more advice, we might share information about your problem with them so they can help you more quickly. We will ask your permission before doing this.
Our lawful basis for using your information
- Personal information: Legitimate interests
- Special category and criminal offence data: Article 9(2)(f) – establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims
- EDI monitoring: Article 9(2)(g) – substantial public interest
How we use your data for research, feedback and statistics
This section covers how we use your data to carry out our research, feedback and statistical work.
National Citizens Advice covers their use of data for this purpose in their privacy notice.
How we collect your information
We collect information from our advice database Casebook, as well as client feedback forms, emails, and calls.
What information we collect
We collect information on quality of advice, client profiles, outcomes, qualitative impacts, complaints and compliments.
What we use your information for
We use your information to monitor the quality and impact of our work, and to identify where improvements can be made including access for marginalised groups.
Who we share your information with
We only share anonymised information with third parties, unless you have given us permission to share your information.
Our lawful basis for using your information
- Personal data: Legitimate interests
- Special category data: Article 9(2)(j) archiving, research and statistics.
How we use your data when applying to work or volunteer
How we collect your information
Via Citizens Advice website, email, letter and calls.
What information we collect
Relevant information related to applying for a paid or volunteer role at SWRU.
What we use your information for
We use the information to assess suitability for a role, to identify any reasonable adjustments, to be able to take up references, and, if appointed, for any DBS check that may be required.
Who we share your information with
References that are provided in any application will be taken up. If offered a role, and if a DBS check is required, then information is shared with that service.
Our lawful basis for using your information
- Personal information: Legitimate interests
- Accessibility and reasonable adjustments: Article 6(1)(c) Legal Obligation
How we use your data when using our website
What information we collect
Delegates information regarding training bookings. Personal information when requesting a call back using the online form.
How we collect your information
Training bookings use software called Event Espresso. Online form on our website is a WordPress form.
What we use your information for
Used to process requests to attend training, and to respond in a timely manner to requests for a call back.
Who we share your information with
Our third party website company, Moocow Media, has access to the training bookings system.
Our lawful basis for using your information
- Personal information: Legitimate interests
- Special category information: N/A
How we use cookies on our website
This is explained on our Cookie Policy webpage.
How long we keep your data for
National Citizens Advice is responsible for managing any data in joint client case records. For more information please see their privacy notice.
| Data | Purpose | Retention |
| Personal information including special category | Providing advice | 6 years unless your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute in which case it is kept for 16 years |
| Personal information including special category if you have applied for a paid or volunteer role | Providing an effective recruitment process | 1 year from receipt |
Third party processors
Third party processors are other organisations that carry out data processing on our behalf. Third party processors don’t use data for their own purposes and we have agreements in line with data protection law.
| Processor name | Activities | Data hosting location |
| Fusion LTD | IT support | EEA |
| Moocow Media | Website support | EEA |
Your data protection rights
You have rights in relation to your personal data that we hold. Your rights include being able to request:
- Access to copies of your data
- Corrections are made to inaccurate data
- Deletion of your personal data
- Object to how we use your personal data
These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every circumstance. For more information about your rights you can visit the ICO website.
To make a data protection rights request you can do so by emailing bureau@swru.org
Raising a concern about how we use your information
If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information please contact us at bureau@swru.org
You can also contact the national charity if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data or wish to raise a concern about how a local office has handled your personal data. To do so you can email: DPO@citizensadvice.org.uk
Contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
You can also raise your concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates data protection law in the UK, if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information. They will normally expect you to have made a complaint to us directly in the first instance.
- Visit the ICO website
- Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
- Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
